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Barbadian surfer Che Allan gave a rousing vote of confidence for the island’s six-member team which will descend on El Salvador in less than two weeks’ time to compete in the final qualifying event for surfing at this year’s Olympic Games.
Allan will join fellow surfers Joshua Burke and Bruce Mackie as well as females Chelsea Tuach, Chelsea Roett and Gabriella Gittens in El Salvador for the ISA World Surfing Games from May 29 to June 6 and it will represent the last chance of qualification to the Games where surfing will make its debut.
The top five eligible men and top seven eligible women will qualify for the Olympics, but a maximum of two surfers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) in each of the men’s and women’s events will be granted passage to Tokyo.
Top six for World Surfing Games
Article by May 13, 2021
Barbados will be represented by six of its finest surfers at the upcoming ISA World Surfing Games slated to be held at El Sunzal/La Bocana, El Salvador from May 29 to June 6.
Leading the charge is Barbados’ top ranked international surfer, Chelsea Tuach, who will be joined by Joshua Burke, Che Allan, Chelsea Roett, Bruce Mackie and Gabriella Gittens.
Tuach ended the last full season of competition in 2019 as the number 12th ranked surfer on the WSL International rankings after winning the Volkswagon South Africa Open of Surfing, a WSL 3,000 event and reaching the semifinals of the Abanca Galicia Surf Pro, a WSL 10,000 event. She had a solid start to the 2020 season and is currently ranked 9th on the North American Regional rankings. She is the only Barbadian surfer to have won medals at both the Junior (2013) and Senior (2015) levels of the ISA World Surfing Championships and the Pan Am Surfing Games (
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Surfing will make its debut at this summer’s rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo and two of Barbados’ leading surfers are hopeful of being a part of the historic undertaking.
Professional surfers Chelsea Tuach and Joshua Burke have enjoyed varying experiences in the lead-up to the 32nd Olympiad, but they have both declared their fitness and readiness for the Games.
Qualification will be based on the performances at two editions of the ISA World Surfing Games, the World Surf League Championship Tour, and the Pan American Games.
Twenty male and 20 female athletes can qualify for the Games, with a maximum of two each per National Olympic Committee (NOC). (NM)